As the climate of fear and intimidation against union members continues in Colombia, the U.S. Congress must not approve the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), lawmakers and Colombian union leaders said today.

Seven Colombian trade union leaders traveled to the United States to lobby Congress to oppose the agreement. They say despite claims by the Bush administration and Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe that progress has been made in stemming the violence against union members, the reality is that violence has increased against labor leaders in Colombia.

Intensive care nurse Geri Jenkins says that a 67-year-old male patient with a history of four heart attacks, a quadruple bypass and an implanted defibrillator and about to take a high stress job "would be uninsurable for having a pre-existing condition."

Unless, of course, he was Dick Cheney and about to become the vice president of the United States in 2001. Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association/ National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), says Cheney

can have the choice of doctors. He can go to any hospital. He can have excellent standard of care. And he's alive today because of it. And there are a lot of people who aren't….We, as the public, pay for Dick Cheney's care. Why not—why is the government not providing the same type of care to all Americans?

New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech describes yesterday's municipal election victories by union members across the state.

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO is proud to announce the victories of four union members who were elected to public office yesterday, bringing the total number of rank-and-file union members elected to public office in New Jersey to 499 since 1997.

For the fourth time this year, an AFL-CIO-endorsed candidate has won a special congressional election. Last night, Travis Childers won a striking (54 percent to 48 percent) victory in Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District (CD), by emphasizing the issues that matter most to working families.

The Mississippi AFL-CIO endorsed Childers, a Democrat, for the seat left open by the appointment of Republican Rep. Roger Wicker to the Senate. Childers pledged in his campaign to support affordable health care for working families and to fight bad trade deals that would cost Mississippi jobs. He also pledged to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Colorado working families yesterday hit the streets, gathering the first of the 76,000 signatures needed to put what The New York Times calls the "nation's toughest corporate fraud law" on the November ballot.

Union, community, environmental and other activist members of the Protect Colorado's Future coalition also began collecting signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot, a measure to protect workers from being fired for no reason.

The corporate fraud measure would make CEOs and top execs personally liable if they commit fraud or condone it by not reporting it. It establishes both civil penalties and criminal—i.e., jail time.

Robert Masciola, deputy director of the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Research, describes the current efforts of the Building Justice Campaign. The campaign, which seeks to raise standards in the residential construction sector, currently is focused on Pulte Homes and its Del Webb subsidiary to increase Pulte’s accountability for the actions of its subcontractors. Until Pulte does so, the campaign is cautioning union members and retirees before purchasing a Pulte or Del Webb home.

Arizona and Nevada are two of the fastest growing states in the country as retirees flock West for warm weather and lower taxes. The retiree housing boom has been profitable for Pulte Homes, which owns Del Webb, the biggest national builder of “active adult” (55 years and older) communities.

Economic Report:

Americans are lacking faith in the economy. A new Bloomberg poll suggests only 19 percent believe the economy will improve over the next six months while 37 percent expect it to be worse. The most pessimistic age group is 35-64 year olds, 47 percent of that age group believe it is going to get worse.

New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg is opposing two union-backed bills on New York state's Capitol Hill. The mayor wrote in a letter that the bills could cost the city $300 million per year, but AFSCME District Council 37, the organization representing the majority of New York City s municipal workers, isn't buying that figure. One bill allows nurses to retire at the age of 50, while the other lays out a plan for members of Council 37 to buy into an early retirement plan originally offered in 1995.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is opposing two union backed bills on Capitol Hill. The mayor wrote in a letter that the bills could cost the city $300 million per year, but AFSCME District Council 37, the organization representing the majority of New York City s municipal workers, isn't buying the figure. One bill allows nurses to retire at the age of 50 while the other lays out a plan for members of Council 37 to buy into an early retirement plan originally offered in 1995.